A Shocking Moment for Society: Tasering at University of Florida

Today's news shows a recognizable shock moment in the annals of a closing society. A very ordinary-looking American student -- Andrew Meyer, 21, at the University of Florida - was tasered by police when he asked a question of Senator John Kerry about the impeachment of President George Bush. His arms were pinned and as he tried to keep speaking he was shocked -- in spite of begging not to be hurt. A stunning piece of footage but unfortunately, historically, a very familiar and even tactical moment.

It is an iconic turning point and it will be remembered as the moment at which America either fought back or yielded. This violence against a student is different from violence against protesters in the anti-war movement of 30 years ago because of the power the president has now to imprison innocent U.S. citizens for months in isolation. And because, as I have explained elsewhere, we are not now in a situation in which 'the pendulum' can easily swing back. That taser was directed at the body of a young man, but it is we ourselves, and our Constitution, who received the full force of the shock.

There is a chapter in my new book, The End of America, entitled "Recast Criticism as 'Espionage' and Dissent as 'Treason,'" that conveys why this moment is the horrific harbinger it is. I argue that strategists using historical models to close down an open society start by using force on 'undesirables,' 'aliens,' 'enemies of the state,' and those considered by mainstream civil society to be untouchable; in other times they were, of course, Jews, Gypsies, Communists, homosexuals. Then, once society has been acculturated to that use of force, the 'blurring of the line' begins and the parameters of criminalized speech are extended -- the definition of 'terrorist' expanded -- and the use of force begins to be deployed in HIGHLY VISIBLE, STRATEGIC and VISUALLY SHOCKING WAYS against people that others see and identify with as ordinary citizens. The first 'torture cellars' used by the SA, in Germany between 1931 and 1933 -- even before the National Socialists gained control of the state, during the years when Germany was still a parliamentary democracy -- were informal and widely publicized in the mainstream media. Few German citizens objected because those abused there were seen as 'other' -- even though the abuse was technically illegal. But then, after this escalation of the use of force was accepted by the population, students, journalists, opposition leaders, and clergy were similarly abused during their own arrests. Within six months dissent was stilled in Germany.

What is the lesson for us from this and from other closing societies, some of them democracies? You can have a working Congress or Parliament; newspapers; human rights groups; even elections; but when ordinary people start to be hurt by the state for speaking out, dissent closes quickly and the shock chills opposition very, very fast. Once that happens, democracy has been so weakened that major tactical and strategic incursions -- greater violations of democratic process -- are far more likely. If there is dissent about the vote in Florida in this next presidential election -- and the police are tasering voters' rights groups -- we will still have an election.

What we will not have is liberty.

We have to understand what time it is. When the state starts to hurt people for asking questions, we can no longer operate on the leisurely time of a strong democracy -- the 'Oh gosh how awful!' kind of time. It is time to take to the streets. It is time to confront those committing crimes against the Constitution. The window has now dropped several precipitous inches and once it is closed there is no opening it without great and sorrowful upheaval.

We also need to understand from history that the temptation at a moment like this to grow more quiet -- to stay out of the line of fire -- is the wrong choice by far. History shows categorically that if citizens do not stand up now to confront and imprison the abusers, things do not get safer -- they get much more dangerous for ordinary people, activist or not.

I was scared when I wrote The End of America -- personally scared because the blueprint I was tracing in the summer of 2006 showed clearly that protesters and critics would start to be hurt within the year. When I told a dear friend that I was scared, he gently reminded me of the history I was reading. He asked, will things be scarier for you and the ones you love if you speak up now -- or if you are silent?

We don't just need to speak up now. We need to act. It is time to rebel in the name of the flag and the founders.

This post first appeared on PowellsBooks.Blog.

Naomi Wolf is the author of The End of America: A Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot, Chelsea Green Publishing, Sept 2007. She is also a co-founder of the American Freedom Campaign, a grassroots and grasstops democracy movement.

Comments

[Give Peace A Chance]

The jerk was acting like a 3 yr old brat, wanting to steal the college forum for his 15 minutes of fame. The guards tried to subdue him and he just kept getting more bizarre and escalating the situation.

Kerry is one of the last politicians to have public discourse without vetted audiences. Kerry is not responsible for the students bizarre behavior or the polices' behavior. I hope this little punk doesn't prevent Kerry from holding future open forums.

[cylindar]

Kerry also has been dissing Move-On.Org, so I guess I am not surprised. Kerry is a has been slop head and I think this incident will seal his fate.

[jaybone23]

While I object to campus police stepping in to silence the guy, after he started to resist and attempted to get away from them, he became a danger to everybody in that auditorium. Police will assume the worst when a person chooses not to comply, especially in such a frantic way. If the kid just stayed calm instead of freaking out and crying like the spoiled brat he probably is, none of this would have happened.

[thetone1]

I agree, and I think Naomi Wolf is just showboating here a little bit, overdramatizing things to sell books or whatever. These 'activists' show up at public forums for anyone controversial and then ruin them for everyone else by shouting down the speaker and ranting on and on. Most people just accept it passively, some applaud it. I have zero sympathy for him if he is stupid enough to resist the cops. Oh, but perhaps that was the whole point after all, to be the martyr. Hmm, I wonder if he has a history of acting out like this in public? Maybe he puts his stuff up on the internet? Gee, ya think it's possible?

So Ms. Wolf is actually suggesting that these specific Florida college police had somehow been briefed that from now on they are to subdue and torture political activists at university forums who ask particularly uncomfortable question. Since these cops are probably not very sophisticated politically, there would have had to be some political operative on site to take charge and direct their activities. So, who would that have been, James Carville? someone from Senator Kerry's staff? or, more ominously, someone from the Bush administration, the Republican party, or...well, my mind is swelling with frightening possibilities. And how would this agreement with the university police department been worked out? a friendly meeting with Kerry's guy, who say "when I give the signal, you guys rush in there, knock over the speaker I dislike, and then when you have him on the ground and in cuff, taser his ass good! and the university police department chief says, 'ok, sounds good, this is in line with the directive I've gotten from my superiors that from now on I am supposed to torture political dissidents in public, so ok mr. Kerry staff I'll do just as you say"

The thing that bothers me is that Ms. Wolf is sophisticated enough to know that what she is saying is total nonsense, but that it will resonate with a hysteric segment of the audience. Nice scam.

[Northshoredude]

He doofus - he did'nt stay calm - because he couldn't believe that he was being arrested at a political rally etc. for voicing his opinion. I mean - I can't believe the people on here. You are acting like this guy was some kind of deranged phyco who was about to mass murder everyone. Get a grip. It is called "freedom of speech". Sometimes freedom of speech is messy. TOO BAD YOU PHSCO FASCISTS!

[bethinCary]

I second ya Nshoredude.

I am shocked by the amount of subservience to a willing people wanting to be victims of a police state.

[jaybone23]

You're all overreacting. Go to a public space and start acting like this kid did. Nobody in their right mind is going to defend behavior like that in a PUBLIC space. And North,what's a phyco or phsco? While I'm sure freedom of speech also entails allowing for spelling errors, nobody is going to take your point seriously if you can't spell them.

[Kungfublood]

When people tell me to be afraid and anyway it does no good to speak the truth and ask for the truth and stand up and demand the truth!
I tell the that is very 1930s Germany of them and I am sure that Der Fuhrer will love and embrace them and their children while they are on their way to the hell of rape torture and disappeared loved ones.
Just like going to school in Iraq or Palestine.

[crackpot]

Are 4 or 5 police officers enough to subdue 1 person without resorting to 50,000 volts? Of course. They use the taser because it's easier, more fun, and gives them that ultimate authority rush.
Our society is sick and getting sicker.

[Jane22]

Yes!

[barrycourage]

Naomi,

I agree that we are at a turning point.

Some good signs: 75% of the people disapprove of Bush; a majority also disapprove of the war. The rat brigade deserted the White House. The Christofascist right's hypocrisy continues to unravel...

But there is damage to fix. And the Dems need to start fixing. They wouldn't maintain limits on civil liberties to benefit their own power, would they? The longer Congress takes to restore rights, the greater the likelihood totalitarianism will take root.

That said, Andrew Meyer is not today's version of the students murdered at Kent State:

--Kerry repeatedly said he wanted to, and had begun to, answer Meyer's questions. He was not squelching them. Kerry also said he could have handled the situation without interruption.

--The University of Florida's president has asked for the Florida Division of Law Enforcement to investigate.

--Two of the four restraining campus police officers have been put on administrative leave.

--News reports have described Andrew Meyer's web page. The young man has strong, patriotic instincts. But he is an attention-seeker. College students aren't always mature.

--I have read the news and viewed the tape. Meyer barged to the front of the line, according to Kerry. The student had already asked questions that had been answered when he was asked to yield.

He used up his time, did not yield, became unruly, and then even resisted physical prodding to leave. He looked like a spoiled brat throwing a tantrum. I thought, "Typical frat kid machismo."

The tasering was unnecessary, however. It exacerbated the situation and just demonstrated the police's need to feel in control. And it gave Meyer more room to milk the fracas for all of its martyrizing worth.

Pouncing on this incident isn't necessary to prove a slide toward fascism. Gitmo, Bush's extreme largesse, the Patriot Act and its uses and abuses are enough.

One mo' thing: You said that, in other times, Jews, Gypsies, Communists, and homosexuals were marginalized and brutalized to instill fear in the population and subjugate them.

Scapegoating might have abated, but it hasn't ended.

[realitytrumpsbull]

www.impeachbush.org

[maheanuu]

Being a retired military man, the video made me sick. I didn't spend 20+ years in the military to watch the country become a Fascist state. God Damn the government and it's jack booted thugs both male and female! I saw this coming when the "empty suit" Herr Ronny Raygun was elected by a bunch of doofus me firsters. I left the country of my birth, and immigrated to a country where we still hold to the belief that this country used to believe in. That is above all FREEDOM OF SPEECH! Of all places where it should be sacrosanct is at a political rally/meeting. That young man was totally within his rights to speak his mind no matter what the Fascists of today believe. I find it very difficult to believe that this happened at a Progressive Rally. Of all the places I would have thought that his views would be listened to would have been there. The Police should have never stepped in, they had no right nor authority to do so. I hope that this young man not only owns the school in the near future, but that he goes on and becomes a true advocate of the freedoms that it seems he cherishes. For those who have posted that he was deserving above, you deserve the government you have. I only hope that when they come for you that you will take it like the scum you are, whimpering, cowardly feces eating reich wingers. You are beneath contempt, I wouldn't urinate in your mouthes if your tonsils were on fire!

Just this old chief's 2¢

[NoCorporatePersonhood]

20 years in the military!! I respect your above opinion and that you got out of here. What country do you live in now and recommend? I am looking to get out in the near future as well.

[Northshoredude]

Right on Maheanuu:

That was a great comment from someone who actually fought for our so-called freedom. As soon as I can sale my house (which I can't thanks to our Bushit economy) I will be leaving this lame-ass country too - for a place that practices what it preaches!

[BarryChamplain]

maheanuu:

Hey, old chief! Lemme ax you a question, here:

If you were that fascist state, and you wanted to make a public display of intolerance to dissent, in order to, as Naomi points out, start conditioning the populace to hold its tongue...

... would you do it at a Republican rally, so that critics could lambaste your party's decency?

Or, would you do it at just such a "progressive" rally, where the strongarm tactics could be pinned (erroneously) on someone like Senator Kerry?

(Ever emcee a show from a stage, or make a speech? I HAVE. Sure, you can interact with audience members, and take questions and such. But, actually KNOW all that's GOING ON OUT THERE? Not a chance in Hell.)

Bonus! You also make John Kerry look weak and indecisive, again. Hey... he didn't stand up for your freedom!

I.

SMELL.

ROVE.

[myearth]

I have a long list of people who should be removed for abusive behavior (bush, rove, gonzales, et all). Apparently, they can condone torture and it's okay. But let a college student insist on speaking and despite the speaker's consent, you guys think it is okay to use a taser on him. Guess you loved the students being shot at Kent State. It is the fault of all who ask questions. Dissent deserves punishment. Hello Hitler. Goodbye USA.

[Archie1955]

Although I respect the irony shown by many of the comments above there are still those who are part of the problem and not part of the solution the Boblablah's of the world. Nothing is important to them except their beer and football. All the risks taken by others so they can honestly if foolishly respond to this blog are not appreciated or even acknowedged. what a waste of brain cells but these kind of people are going to be the end of the good old U.S. of A.

[roadrider]

I can't believe that anyone who has actually watched the video is defending the actions of the police or suggesting that Meyer deserved being assaulted with a deadly weapon for exercising his first amendment rights in a public forum. Naomi Wolf is frighteningly correct that we're on a very slippery slope towards a police state when folks think that there's nothing wrong with what happened in this situation.

It's clear from the video that the police initiated their assault on Meyer without giving him a chance to make his point and walk away. The police further escalated the incident by gang tackling Meyer and, while having him hog-tied on the floor and screaming for help and to be let go to walk away, subjected him to a taser shot.

Meyer may have acted impertinently and impolitely towards Kerry and may well have been more interested in self-promotion than reasoned discourse. But, since when is being a dick a crime punishable by assault by armed police officers? There was no crime, imminent crime or danger that required the police to take any action at all.

I'm sure that John Kerry, a combat veteran and experienced public speaker, does not need a band of armed guards to protect him against hecklers. The melee that most people seem to think was incited by Meyer was actually incited by and escalated to a ridiculous extreme by the overreaction by the police officers.

The reactions that have defended the police behavior are a clear illustration that we are like the frog being boiled to death by having the water temperature raised one degree at a time. When such behavior is regarded as the norm we are adapting to an environment that will cause our civil liberties, particularly the right to public dissent, to evaporate before our eyes. When they're gone for good we'll notice the bubbles in the water and suddenly realize that our democracy has died with them.

[bumpersticker]

Naomi said -"When the state starts to hurt people for asking questions, we can no longer operate on the leisurely time of a strong democracy."

This is dishonest reporting. No one was hurt because of the question being asked. This is spiritualizing the facts to fit a bias. Do you really think a bunch of campuse cops reacted to the wrong question? The kid was holding the podium hostage for a personal agenda. Taser may have been excessive force, but that is not what you are implying.

There are many 1984-ish attributes to this administration, but this was not a case of Bg Brother shutting down wrong-thinking.

[BarryChamplain]

"This is dishonest reporting. No one was hurt because of the question being asked."


And this is a LIE.

Sorry, bumpass, I watched the long video of this. More "shocking" to me, than the tasering itself, was seeing the cops' moving in ON CUE.

The student had asked two questions in a manner which, by my observation, does NOT conform to the rapidly-evolving spin that he was a "jerk"; "troublemaker", whatever. I, too, want very much to know:

[a] Why, when Greg Palast has proven that the African-American vote was suppressed by millions in Ohio, did you concede the election so quickly? and;

[b] Are you a member of Skull and Bones?


(Ooh, what a "jerk"! Quick, look up his "background" and see if he has a "history of troublemaking"!)

At this point, the cops, WHO HAD BEEN LOOMING NEAR THE MICROPHONE ALL ALONG (oh really? WHY?? Why near the MICROPHONE, exactly?? Were you, perhaps, EXPECTING some "rudeness"??), descended on Meyer with the precision of a dance troupe, and pulled him away. No discussion or request to leave, just BAM! like they had witnessed a shooting and were acting on it.

Now, listen man... you can't hear this on the sound bite. On the video, it was as obvious as the zit on the end of your nose that THEY WERE RESPONDING DIRECTLY TO THE ASKING OF A "TRIGGER" QUESTION.

10-4? Got that? Capisce? If you don't see this yourself, you're willfully blind and an authoritarian asshole and you really just ought to stop calling yourself an "American".

I ask yet again: WHO PREPPED THESE POLICE TO CONFRONT LOW-LEVEL SECURITY ISSUES WITH VIOLENT CONFRONTATION?

And WHO CONSULTED WITH THESE POLICE, BEFOREHAND, ABOUT USING THESE TACTICS AT THIS EVENT?

(Hint: it wasn't Sen. Kerry.)

[Webheadstl]

Andrew Meyer is going to be awarded a ton of money from the University of Florida.

There may be fewer speakers willing to attend events at U of F out of great concern for becoming involved in similar situations.

I saw the campus police interfering with the exchange between Meyer and Kerry. Moreover, it seemed the campus police did not follow the wishes of Kerry to let the conversation continue. The police were wrong to intervene. There was no threat to Kerry.

The campus police did not know how to handle the situation. There will be lost jobs as a result.

Fortunately, the Ohio National Guard was not called in by Governor Rhodes. One would think something was learned by campus police over the past 37 years.

[Outsidethebox]

This incident was as disturbing as they come.
Worth notiing also (as Greg Palast points out) we had a silent Kerry looking on at this horror. Why did he not speak up. He is usually so voluble so willing to use a few dozen more words than are necessary. What happened to his silver tongue? It seems we are closer to 1984 with this event if people don't speak out. We need to preserve our First Amendment freedoms. The over-reaction of the police was reminiscent of Kent State and the national guard shooting students--still a crime never fully explained. Why the hysteria, why the paranoia in the US, why does it take 7 police officers to restrain one student and a taser gun? Naomi Wolf maybe right we may be at a historic turning point. We hope these trends can be reversed.

[AnthonyR]

It's obvious to anyone who watched the entire episode that the guy was looking to get arrested and make a scene. The people who were there actually APPLAUDED when he was being led off, indicating that they thought he was not a legitimate questioner, but a nuisance. His actions are those of someone who was practically begging to be tasered. You will be seeing more of this mendacious stunt guy.

The fact that the campus police knew about him and his pranks, and were trying to make him stop talking, proves he is just a jerk, and not worthy of being held up as some kind of left-wing martyr.

Yes, the entire Bush Regime is PURE EVIL and should all be tasered, impeached, arrested, and imprisoned, but why do this stunt at a JOHN KERRY event (of all people)? Why not do this prank to embarrass one of the Republican candidates?

If the Left is against the Democrats as well as the Republicans, they will be as pathetically ineffective as always. First, eliminate the Republicans from holding any office anywhere, and *only then* should the Left go after moderate-to-right Democrats.

[thetone1]

right on dude